Eugenie Bouchard of Montreal, Quebec is in the second round of the 2023 Guadalajara Open in Mexico. On Sunday in the first round of the WTA 1000 event, Bouchard upset Renata Zarazua of Mexico, 6-1, 7-6. Bouchard is currently ranked 248th in the world and Zarazua is ranked 181st.
The serve was a major difference in the match. Bouchard had five aces and zero double faults. Zarazua had one ace and three double faults. Bouchard’s claim to fame was reaching the Wimbledon final in 2014, and the Australian Open and French Open semifinals.
This was Bouchard’s fifth victory in a WTA event in 2023. She previously beat Ylena In-Albon of Switzerland 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the Copa Colsanitas in Colombia on April 3, Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round of Madrid on April 26, Diletta Cherubini of Italy 6-4, 6-4, in the first round of Florence on May 16, and Kaja Juvan of Slovenia 7-6, 6-3, in the second round of Florence on May 17. Bouchard will next play the seventh seed Veronika Kudermetova of Russia in the second round on Monday. Despite being the lower seed, Bouchard has beaten Kudermetova twice in two matches head-to-head. She won 7-5, 6-0 in the quarterfinals of Gstaad in 2018 and 6-0, 6-3 in the first round of Prague in 2020.
Bouchard was one of two Canadians to win on Sunday. Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal, Quebec beat Asia Muhammad of the United States 6-1, 6-3. She will next play the 13th seed Elise Mertens of Belgium in round two on Tuesday. Mertens has won their only prior match, 6-1, 6-3, in the first round of the 2023 Australian Open.
Two more Canadians are in first round action on Monday. Carol Zhao of Richmond Hill, Ontario is up against 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin of the United States, and Stacey Fung of Vancouver, British Columbia is up against Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine.
